As Iowa legislature assembles, new radio ad warns against ‘radioactive rate hikes’

Cedar Rapids and Des Moines, Iowa — On the first day of the state legislature’s 2012 session, environmental watchdog group Friends of the Earth announced it will air an ad that warns against electric rate increases sought by the nuclear industry.

The ad shows that the proposed rate hike would force Iowans to foot the bill for nuclear reactors that endanger the public — or for reactors that are never even constructed, leading to potential windfall profits for utility company MidAmerican Energy.

“MidAmerican wants to build nuclear power reactors, but no bank or investor will come near it, so they want us to foot the bill,” an actor says in the ad.

Another actor calls attention to the radioactive risks new nuclear reactors would impose on Iowans, as illustrated by the ongoing disaster in Japan.

“This proposal is nothing more than a handout to MidAmerican, and these reactors would endanger Iowans — if they are ever even built,” said Mike Carberry, an Iowa-based consultant for Friends of the Earth. “The legislature must reject this effort to fleece the people of Iowa.”

Friends of the Earth opposes nuclear reactor construction because of the risks of a nuclear disaster, highlighted recently by the ongoing meltdown crisis and radiation releases in Japan, and the deadly waste produced by the irradiation process, as well as the high financial and economic costs.

Last year, the Iowa Senate declined to pass the radioactive rate hike proposal in the midst of widespread public opposition, but MidAmerican has not abandoned the proposal.

Friends of the Earth fights to defend the environment and create a more healthy and just world. Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean energy and solutions to climate change, keeping toxic and risky technologies out of the food we eat and products we use, and protecting marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.